Simply Red 樂隊于1985年初在曼徹斯特成立，它是英國最成功的靈歌風格的流行樂隊之一。樂隊的領袖人物是Mick Hucknall，正是他的高亢嗓音使得樂隊給人一種真正的靈歌感覺，并最終使樂隊同一些僅僅稱得上熟練的靈歌樂隊區別開來。 樂隊的許多成員在后朋克時期繁忙的曼城搖滾樂壇上非常活躍。 Hucknall曾是車庫樂隊 The Frantic Elevators 的靈魂人物，而貝司手 Tony Bowers、鼓手 Chris Joyce和銅管樂手 Tim Kellett 都來自 The Durutti Column 樂隊。后來鍵盤手 Fritz McIntyre 和吉他手 Sylvan Richardson也加入了樂隊。共同演出了一陣子后，樂隊加入了 Elektra 公司。最后樂隊由于參加了 James Brown 1985年的英國巡回演出，并在演出中獲得了很大成功，因而聲名大振。 同年夏天，Simply Red 以一首《Moneys Too Tight(To Mention)》打入英國排行榜前 20名。隨后樂隊推出了他們的首張專輯《Picture Book》。 隨著專輯成為金唱片，樂隊在全歐洲的名氣與日俱增， 最終他們以一曲《Holding Back the Years》在英美兩國都獲得了極大的成功， 在美國成為冠軍曲，英國榜第2名。樂隊的第2張專輯《Men & Women》成功發行， 確立了 Hucknall世界一流歌手的地位。1989年的專輯《A New Flame》直達英國榜冠軍，并在美國產生了他們第2首冠軍單曲——翻唱 Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes樂隊的《If You Dont Know Me By Now》。 他們的第4張專輯—1992年的《Stars》產生了 3 首熱門歌曲：《Something Got Me Started》、《Wonderland》和《For Your Babies》，此專輯獲得了英國最佳專輯獎。 隨后他們在1998年和1999年又分別推出了兩張專輯 《Blue》和《Love & The Russian Winter》，并且在前不久又推出了他們的最新大碟《Its Only Love》，相信這些都將他們帶來更多的成功。 by William Ruhlmann The British soul-pop band Simply Red was formed in 1984 by singer Mick Red Hucknall (born Michael James Hucknall, June 8, 1960, Manchester, England) with three ex-members of Durutti Column, Tony Bowers (born October 31, 1952) (bass), Chris Joyce (born October 11, 1957, Manchester, England) (drums), and Tim Kellett (born July 23, 1964, Knaresborough, England) (brass, keyboards), plus Sylvan Richardson (guitar) and Fritz McIntyre (born September 2, 1956, Birmingham, England) (keyboards). The group signed to Elektra Records and released Picture Book (October 1985), which featured Moneys Too Tight (To Mention), a Top 40 cover of a 1982 R&B chart single by the Valentine Brothers, and Holding Back the Years, a Hucknall original that topped the U.S. charts. The single caused the album to go platinum, and made the group one of the major successes of 1986. Men and Women (March 1987), which featured two collaborations between Hucknall and soul songwriter Lamont Dozier, was less popular, though it generated the Top 40 hit The Right Thing. (In the U.K., Infidelity and a cover of Cole Porters Evry Time We Say Goodbye also made the Top 40.) Richardson left in 1987 and was replaced by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, who was replaced by Heitor T.P. (born Brazil). The third album, A New Flame (February 1989), went gold due to the cover of the 1972 Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hit If You Dont Know Me by Now that hit number one and became a gold single. (In the U.K., Its Only Love and A New Flame also made the Top 40.) By the time of the fourth album, Stars (September 1991), Bowers and Joyce had left, with Shaun Ward joining on bass and Gota on drums, and saxophonist Ian Kirkham had become a permanent member. Stars was a relative commercial disappointment in the U.S. (though it spawned Top 40 hits in Something Got Me Started and Stars and eventually went gold), but it became a major success elsewhere, especially in the U.K., where it was the best-selling album of 1991, topped the charts for 19 weeks, and spawned the Top Ten hits Stars and For Your Babies and the Top 40 hits Something Got Me Started, Thrill Me, and Your Mirror. Worldwide, it had sold eight-and-a-half-million copies by the second quarter of 1993. Ward and Gota were gone by the release of Simply Reds fifth album, Life (October 1995), leaving a lineup of Hucknall, McIntyre, Heitor T.P., Kirkham, and backup singer Dee Johnson. The album again proved more of a success at home than in America, topping charts all over Europe, as did its leadoff single, Fairground, while spending only three months in the U.S. charts. Blue followed in 1998, and a year later Simply Red issued Love and the Russian Winter. After establishing their simplyred label, Home was released in 2003. Two years later, the band released Simplified, a collection of old tracks and new songs, followed by another two-year absence before the notable Stay in 2007. 更多>>